History

Eyres moved to Worksop in 1899 as part of a major expansion, taking a large two storey building on Newcastle Avenue in the centre of the town. While Eyres took the lower floor, the upper level was used as a meeting room by the Pelham Lodge of Freemasons. And all went well until 18th July, 1911, when a restless Mrs Hayes, wife of a local bank manager, looked out of her bedroom window at about 3.10am to see flames flickering behind one of the rear windows at Eyres.

The alarm was immediately raised and the Worksop 'steamer' under a Captain Rawson was soon on the scene, with water being pumped from the River Ryton onto the blaze.

Some of the crowd who had gathered on the street quickly broke into the shops and carried out as many furniture items as they could.

As the fire raged unabated it was feared the heat might cause Shaw's store of gunpowder, paraffin and petrol to explode. The assistance of welbeck Abbey fire brigade was requested and by the time they arrived the trees in the street were burnt, telephone wires had melted and the doors of of the Chapel across the road had been singed. The fire broke out on the Tuesday and by the following Saturday Eyres re-opened for business witha fully stocked new shop on Park St, opposite the market. There was further change in 1919 when an adjacent property was aquired and converted to provide showroom space. And this is the Eyres that has been familiar to Worksop people for over 90 years. The store dominates the Park St and Westgate corner and has supplied furniture and household goods to countless local families.

There was a 6 week break in trading in 1985 when all Eyres stores were sold to a property company but soon enough a new company, Eyres of Worksop, was formed and leased the building from the property company. The present company has continued to run for the past 30 years and the building itself was bought in 1991. So one way or another, with only two small hiccups, Eyres have provided an excellent service with a vast selection of goods and aim to do so well into this century.